If anyone ever wonders why muzzleloading isn't more popular you need only look at threads on this forum. Too many pretentious a-holes that would rather tear down, humiliate and belittle someone trying to learn rather than just helping or shutting up.
Yes there are other stuck ball threads but most are the same as this, people unloading on some poor guy trying to get advice on something.
A new guy joins up whose interested in getting into the sport and has bought a low cost gun and he's made to feel like he and the gun are worthless and may as well not even try using it. I have handled and owned plenty of well made centrefires e.g. sako, sauer, Blaser and am confident I can identify quality which is why I find it so disingenuous for guys here to tear apart guns like Pedersoli. They're well made and in my experience and the experiences of guys that I know have them work flawlessly. Not everyone can afford or is interested in spending thousands on custom PC guns, but that doesn't seem to be enough for some. That is nothing short of pretentiousness.
I started out with inlines and sabots, without them I never would have graduated to percussion then flintlock, I now love flinters over any other type of firearm including centrefires. If I had of found this forum and joined back in 2012 when I got my first inline and was learning basics I would have certainly been chastised and would have likely given up muzzleloaders for good.
Perhaps try doing what our mothers told us all as kids and if you have nothing kind to say, say nothing at all. Maybe then we'll get more people involved, have a bigger voice and who knows maybe that leads to more muzzleloader seasons, more muzzleloader friendly ranges, more shops and smith's focussing on muzzleloaders. There is nothing good for the sport that can possibly come out of people being ******s to one another but plenty of good that can come from supporting one another.
Seriously, if you do not have something productive to add to this discussion stop replying. I don't want it closed down and nor am I interested in anything anyone has to say that is designed to have no other purpose than to be sarcastic or derogatory. Period.